At fiery meeting, residents blast city leaders over S&WB crisis

New Orleans residents blasted city leaders at a special City Council meeting Thursday to address the pump and drainage crisis, including some speakers who called for a federal investigation.

The city continues to deal with a compromised drainage system as the peak of hurricane season looms. Officials said two turbines that are still down will be back up and running by early September, bringing the system back up to the same capacity that it had before the Aug. 5 flood.

The mayor is asking the council to appropriate $3 million to deal with any storm emergencies.

Councilman Jason Williams is calling for a forensic audit of every federal dollar that came into the city after Hurricane Katrina, detailing exactly what the Sewerage and Water Board spent the money on.

The Department of Public Works is asking for $22 million in emergency funding for the maintenance and repair of thousands of catch basins in the city.